The Vatican hosted the inauguration ceremony of the new Pope Leo XIV. According to the Vatican, in addition to 250,000 pilgrims, delegations from 156 countries and international organizations attended the ceremony.
Among them were Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Kings Philip VI and Philip of Spain and Belgium, and many other world leaders.
After the inaugural Mass, the Pope met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented the Pope with an icon of the Mother of God and Child, painted on a fragment of a heavy artillery box from Izyum.
“For many people, the image of a mother and child symbolizes life that must be protected. It is about our children. It is about those who suffered from the war, who were deliberately abducted and deported by Russia, and who are very much awaited at home in Ukraine. We pray for the lives of all our deported children and hope for the support of the Vatican in this matter so that everyone – both children and Ukrainian prisoners – can return home,” the President said.
